The gross receipts of the Port amounted to nearly 370 lakhs, an increase of nearly 6 per cent.

Agriculture. So far as the actual produce of the land was concerned the season of 1922-23 was, on the whole, rather better than the average. In one important respect, however, it differed from the last six or seven years, because while crops were generally abundant, except in the Eastern Deccan and Karnatic, prices (except cotton) consistently fell. Wages, however, did not fall appreciably with the result that for people labouring for cash wages it was a very good year, but for almost all other classes of the agricultural population it was distinctly inferior to the previous year. In the Presidency the gross area cropped, 27,743,000 acres, showed a net rise of 144 thousand acres or 0.5 per cent. over the previous year. The net area cropped, however, showed a decline of 108,000 acres or 04 per cent. There was an increase of 252,000 acres or 34 2 per cent. over the previous year in the area, 989,000 acres, cropped more than once. In Sind the gross and the net cropped area fell by about 0 ̊4 and 2.7 per cent. Of the total area of the Presidency, 48,713,000 acres, 15,298,000 acres are uncultivable. In Sind with a total area of 30,149,000 acres no less than 20,815,000 acres are classed as uncultivable. Three-fourths of the cultivated area of the Presidency is devoted to growing food-stuffs, Bajri, Paddy, Wheat and Gram being the most important crops. Cotton is by far the largest non-food crop, and owing to the stimulus of high prices the area under cotton increased in the Presidency by 13.8 per cent. and in Sind by over 19 per cent. The total area under cotton was 3 million 977 thousand acres-the tracts showing the largest increases being Gujarat 257,000 acres, Deccan 396,000 acres, Karnatic 230,000 acres and Sind 127,000 acres.

There was an increase in the area under Jowar of 196,000 acres, but in Sind owing to lack of rain in Larkana the area decreased by 91,000 acres. Both in the Presidency and in Sind the area under Bajri showed a considerable decrease, but wheat showed a slight increase. Insufficient and late rains at sowing time was responsible for decrease of 17,000 acres in the Presidency proper under Rice, but Sind, owing to favourable inundation and good

water supply, was able to increase the area under Rice by 128,000 acres or 37 per cent. above the average. Oil nuts and oil seeds with an area of 1,278,000 acres showed an increase.

The total area under Irrigation in the Presidency amounted to 932 thousand acres,-a decrease of 5 per cent. over the previous year. The extent to which Sind depends upon irrigation is shown by the fact that the ratio of the irrigated area to net cropped area was 80.5 per cent. compared with 3.5 per cent. in the Presidency.

The approximate outturn of food crops in the Presidency proper was 4 million tons and in Sind over 12 million tons.

Department of Agriculture. The functions of the Agricultural Department, which has now been in existence for 40 years, are to ascertain, by experiment and investigation and research, methods by which the produce of agriculture can economically be increased in quantity and improved in quality, and then to get these methods introduced into practice. The position of the Department with regard to technical progress is not an easy one. All the obvious methods of increasing production by copying methods or varieties found useful elsewhere have either failed or yielded only partial success, and, in the opinion of the Director of Agriculture, most of the problems of agriculture in this Presidency need facing by rigorous scientific methods. Many investigations were in progress during the year under review. Special attention is devoted to cotton which is so important a crop in this Presidency. In the work of producing and extending the use of improved cotton seed South Gujarat stands first in point of success, and in the tracts South of the Narbudda river the pure strains of Navsari cotton, first distributed widely in 1919, have at last spread all over the area in question; and are rapidly replacing the former mixed seed produced while the character of the District as a producer of staple cotton has been almost re-established. In North Gujarat and in Khandesh improvements have been made in the types of cotton now grown and the seed is being multiplied and should be capable of giving commercial quantities in a year or two. In the Karnatak also the Agricultural Department's improved types are rapidly replacing the ordinary cotton. Very

striking results have been obtained as the result of the research work on Rice and three strains have been isolated giving a very much higher yield than the ordinary seed. Certain varieties of wheat have also been discovered giving a 15 per cent. increase in yield over the types usually cultivated in the Nasik and Ahmednagar districts. The prevention of loss by insects and disease is also the subject of constant investigation, both in the production of disease resisting types and in the finding of remedies. The importance of this branch of the Department's activities will be realised when it is stated that the loss by pests and disease is estimated to amount to probably 25 to 30 per cent. of the actual crop obtained. Improvement in cultivation is another aim of the Department and remarkable results have been obtained by ridge cultivation in the Surat black soil

areas.

The improvements of implements and the establishment of depôts for the sale and hire of implements, cattle breeding, supply of pure seed, water finding and boring, the storage of fodder are other activities of the Department. The expenditure of the Department amounted during 1922-23 to just over 142 lakhs, the receipts being nearly 3 lakhs.

The Agricultural College at Poona continues to be very popular and the demand for admission from other parts of India continues, but no properly qualified student from the Bombay Presidency is refused admission.

Education. The outstanding feature of the year was the passing into law of the Primary Education Act. This povided for the development and expansion of Primary Education by handing over to local authorities the general control and management of primary education. It also gave powers to these bodies to make primary education compulsory for both sexes in the whole or any part of the area subject to their jurisdiction. The Local Boards Act was also amended so as to give local authorities greater scope for the raising of money for educational and other

purposes.

Government have undertaken a definite liability to assist local authorities financially to the extent of half the expenditure in the case of municipalities and two-thirds in the case of local

Boards in order to facilitate progress towards the goal of universal free and compulsory primary education.

Another noticeable feature of the year was the phenomenal demand for professional education.

Out of a total number of 26,763 towns and villages in the Districts of the Bombay Presidency 9,736 possessed schools, the average area served by each school being 12.7 square miles. The total number of recognised Educational Institutions in British Districts is 13,269, the number of pupils being 911,652. Including the 62,108 pupils in private institutions not recognised by Government the total increase in the number of pupils receiving instruction was over 15,000. Of the male population 7.7 per cent. were attending schools or colleges and 2.1 per cent. of the female population. The total expenditure on Public Instruction during the year rose by 157 lakhs to Rs. 311.8 lakhs to which Government funds contributed 55 2 per cent. Fees realised 16'47 per cent., Municipal funds 11.2 per cent., District Local Boards 4 7 per cent., and Endowments, etc., 12.5 per cent. Primary schools accounted for over 157 lakhs, exclusive of expenditure on inspection, construction and repairs, Government's contribution amounting to nearly one crore. The Indian States spent about 36 lakhs on Education. classes of schools and colleges, primary, secondary and those giving higher education the number of pupils showed an increase. Law and Justice. In the twelve months ending the 31st March 1923 twenty Acts were passed by the Legislative Council and became law. They included in addition to measures for the enhancement of taxation important measures of social legislation such as the Prevention of Gambling in Bucket Shops; a democratic constitution and the removal of the sex bar for the Bombay Corporation; the regulation and control of transactions in cotton which conferred upon the East India Cotton Association statutory powers for the regulation of the cotton trade; taxes on entertainments; amendments of the Rent Acts, one of which was intended to put a stop to the practice of subletting; the provision of Compulsory Elementary Education, Act No. IV of 1923 providing machinery for the working of a scheme of Compulsory Elementary Education by local authorities

In all

and improving the arrangements for the supply of Primary Education; and the Local Boards Acts which give wider powers of local self-government to the people of the Presidency.

Thirty Resolutions also on subjects of general public interest were moved during the period under report, of which 10 were carried, 5 were negatived, 14 withdrawn, and 1 ruled out of order. Over 307,000 cases of all kinds were brought in the civil courts of the Presidency during 1922. The value of suits instituted in the mofussil courts exceeded 374 lakhs, while the value of suits in the Bombay Small Causes Courts amounted to over 99 lakhs. Suits below Rs. 500 formed over 20 per cent. of the total.

The bulk of the offences which come before the criminal courts are dealt with by Magistrates and most of the offences are of a comparatively trivial nature. Out of 222,500 persons under trial during the year nearly 139,000 were convicted and of these 1,781 were released on probation, 602 were discharged after admonition and 130,587 were fined. Only about 16,400 received imprisonment and the terms of a third of these were below 15 days. The number of offences that came before the courts were over 169,000.

Police and Crime.-Although during 1922 the Police had to deal with nearly 120 thousand offences, an increase of nearly 5,200 over the previous year, the increase was wholly in petty crime, because cases coming under the Indian Penal Code showed a decrease of nearly 6,000. The reduction under "minor offences against the person and property or property only was substantial, an improvement which was specially welcome since these forms of crime touch the life of the people most closely. The Bombay Suburban Districts (5 005) and Karachi (5.386) continued to be the most criminal districts, Ratnagiri (276) and Thar and Parkar (2 026) the least. The incidence of crime in Sind is considerably more than double that of the Presidency proper. The value of property stolen during the year was over 25 lakhs of which 7 lakhs were recovered. Of the 20,793 persons convicted during the year 4,344 were identified as having had previous convictions and 1,143 were classed as habitual offenders.